Love
by Luv 2 Write Romance
Summary: Take a dragon who cares nothing for love and a dragon who doesn't want anything to do with it and it's only natural love would form. ToothlessOC M for slightly mature content. No Lemons.
1. Chapter 1

Not too far from the island of Berk is the non-human-habited island of Terra Muerte. This island is not known to many humans – those who have actually lived to tell about it – and is home to hundreds of breeds of dragons, many undiscovered and unheard of by human and dragon alike. One of these breeds – given many names but we'll stick with one – is what we call a Godsend. Those who saw it never lived to tell about it. Named for their pearly scales and their tactics of attacking their prey from above, they were often mistaken for angels at a distance thus earning the title Godsend.

On a more specific note, the two dragons we're going to focus on are Whisper, a silent flyer Godsend with incredibly powerful wings, and her older but smaller and weak-at-birth brother Sonto. Mating is hectic on that island, natural selection and all that. Strong runners, strong fighters, strong hunters. Who wouldn't want a strong flyer? But that was the problem. Whisper not only had strong wings but also a strong will. Mating and love were the last things on her mind, but all the eligible males on the island seemed to only think about her mating life.

"I want to leave," Whisper said.

"Why?" Sonto asked, knowing why but not seeing the point.

"It's… it's all these males!" Exasperation was leaking – more like flooding – into her voice.

"Males are everywhere you go, and all of them will want to mate."

"I know."

"_And_ you can't avoid love."

"That's where you're wrong. I _can_ avoid it."

"But you can't _escape_ it."

"I can try." With an eye roll, a head shake, a small smile, and an understanding only a brother could give, he heaved a sigh and said, "Let's go."

101010101010

Whisper must have thought of a million profanities as she flew through the storm. Rain clouding her vision, the wind trying to rip her wings off and send her into a downward spiral, and the added weight of her brother, whom she carried after he gave out from exhaustion, something she was so close to doing. She was determined not to fall into the raging black below. A flash of lighting and the sharp, awkwardly shaped and jagged rocks below and a thin strip of beach on the horizon and a forest maybe one or two miles behind it. Whisper beat her wings faster, fighting the wind with everything she had. The second she was over land her wings gave out, and the most she could do was glide and try to land safely. When she was close enough, she let her brother drop on to the grains of sand below while her momentum flung her into the trees with loud cracks, one sounding like a bone or two instead of tree branches and one she knew was her own once she hit the ground. She lay there, immobile and helpless, drained, and worried for Sonto. She knew it was no use, but she tried to move anyway, her pain and exhaustion keeping her down.

101010101010

What was that smell? She recognized it, but_ what_ was it? Her growling stomach recognized it. She opened one eye and took in her unfamiliar surroundings before spotting the fish in front of her. She opened her other eye and tried to move forward, but shocks of pain in her hind right leg and right wing said no.

"It's over here! This way!" Whisper heard the shouts, and somewhat understood what they said. Then she saw them. Two-legged creatures like the ones who had come to Terra Muerte and attacked the dragons residing there. She'd lost her mother to creatures such as these. Behind them emerged a dragon she'd not seen before and behind it emerged a nadder. She'd seen tons of deadly nadders before but nothing like the green-eyed, black dragon that strolled so casually behind the two-leggeds.

"It's not eating. You think it doesn't like fish?"

"I don't think it can move. You think it broke something else? From the looks of those trees it bulldozed, it might have."

Hiccup and Astrid moved forward towards Whisper, earning a warning growl from her, not that she could do anything about it.

"We won't hurt you," Hiccup cautioned. Toothless let out a noise of uncertainty, not quite sure about this dragon. Despite her pain, she'd rather risk an even worse injury than trust these creatures. Using her one good wing, she propelled herself up to a low tree branch.

"Quite a set of wings," Astrid commented, "Only one that actually works and she still managed to get up in the air." Whisper's pupils were narrowed to slits in fear more than hostility.

"Maybe we can coax it down with more fish," Astrid suggested.

"I'm still trying to figure out what it is."

"What should we name it?"

"We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl yet."

Toothless detected it before Astrid, Hiccup, or Scratch, Astrid's nadder, did as a tiny dragon similar to Whisper made its way through the forest in search of its sister. Toothless and Scratch made defensive positions in front of their owners and Whisper, seeing this looked to see what had caused their attention to shift. _That_ coaxed her down. Just like that, Whisper was on the forest floor once more trying to make herself look terrifying and bigger than she was even with her lopsided stance and crumpled wing.

"Don't touch him," Whisper growled out, not that Hiccup or Astrid could understand.

"Whisper," her brother said, sounding as if he were scolding a dragonling, "Whisper," he said more harshly. "Stand down." Despite herself, she did as her brother had said, seeming to deflate in pride and ferocity. Sonto stepped around her, not looking intimidated at all by two dragons, which then let their guard down.

"We don't want any trouble. My sister and I were leaving our home in search for a new one. We aren't hostile, but she has a personal grudge against the two-legged creatures, one I've learned to let go."

"Dragons on this island have been at peace with humans, or two-leggeds as you call them, for over a year," Scratch spoke, eyeing Whisper.

"You're welcome here so long as you don't cause any trouble," Toothless added.

"Can you behave, Whisper?" Sonto asked. Whisper rolled her big gold-green eyes, but nodded. She was truly curious as to how the two species maintained a peace when all she'd known from these… humans was death.

"Now, take it easy," Hiccup urged, a rope, that had been slung over him from shoulder to hip, in his hand as he walked closer to Whisper.

"What are doing? Get away from me!" Whisper reared up.

"Whoa! Whoa! Easy, easy!" Astrid gently stroked her nose once she was on the ground again. She didn't notice the rope leash around her neck until Hiccup gave it a gentle tug. Whisper grumbled under her breath as she reluctantly followed them to the village. She wasn't sure what to make of the shelters for dragons or the giant food bowl of fish, or the large hut they led her into where she saw dragons with some weird, white thing sticking to their sides or wrapping around their limbs and the looks said dragons gave her.


	2. Chapter 2

"Acke! We found another one for you," Hiccup called out to what looked like no one before a tall, heavyset woman with pale skin, dark brown hair, and a n outfit made of several different colors of fur burst into the room, a tired expression on her round face.

"Well I hope it can heal on its own," her tone was annoyed, but her onyx eyes betray her act.

"It's got a broken wing and it looks like it may have broken its leg as well," Hiccup explained.

"We have no more room! I don't know if something's in the fish or the air to make these dragons so on edge lately. I've had so many patients it's almost like they're _trying_ to get hurt!"

"I'll give it a place to stay," Hiccup pressed, "But it really needs help."

"What is it?"

"Well… you see, I don't know."

"Hmmm…" Acke began to examine Whisper, muttering things like interesting and "hmmm" repeatedly, "_She_ is going to need braces and a cast for her wing and leg. Beautiful creature. Fishlegs!"

"Ma'am?" a heavyset, blonde boy stepped into the room.

"Examine," Acke ordered, pointing to a bored looking Whisper.

"Small ears, large eyes, medium length claws, small razor-like teeth, small frame, and large wings. Diagnosis: A strong flyer who, with its large eyes spots its prey from the sky and snatches it up with her claws using a death grip or teeth with its strong bite, and she's built for speed," he concluded.

"Wonderful. Wait 'til the braces and casts come off before trying to name its breed. And she may need _some_ slight adjustment of her bones. So who wants to help by holding her down?" Acke asked. Her apprentice Fishlegs, Hiccup and Astrid each looked worried.

"Well don't be shy. It shouldn't be _too_ hard trying to hold down a terrified, edgy, untamed dragon," she said in an attempt at humor.

"I'll go get help," Hiccup muttered while slinking out of the room.

101010101010

She was a little loopy, but enough of her was still "conscious" that she could try to throw off the remaining Vikings on her back. The cast for Whisper's leg was on, but Acke and Fishlegs were struggling to hold her bones in place while Hiccup and Astrid attempted to secure the brace. Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut were each holding a leg – not without difficulty – that wasn't broken, and several other Vikings were weighing down her head, body and tail. Stoic the Vast was holding down her powerful, non-broken wing, and was slightly shocked at the sheer power that was contained in such a small dragon. She had to be a little smaller than Toothless. They'd even given her some strange, bitter-tasting elixir to immobilize her, but she managed to fight off a good portion of the daze. Toothless, Sonto, and Scratch looked on in slight amusement but mostly in concern for their riders or sister.

Got it!" Astrid announced, much to the relief of everyone else who jumped off before Whisper had a chance to throw them off. Whisper fell slack, only raising her head and craning her neck to see their handiwork. Her wing looked normal except for the metal out lining the bones along the middle and rim. At least it was bendable at the joints son she could furl and unfurl her wings, but her wing still hurt immensely when moved so she would keep it furled so as to not drag it around. Her cast was somewhat like what she saw on the legs of the other dragons but her was thicker. She was again led through the shelter for dragons before being brought into one of the buildings and led down a corridor. She noted the whole building was carved out of stone, including the small rooms, one of which she was led into. There wasn't much except for a straw bed and a rather large window probably made for perching or flying in and out of – not that she'd be doing either for a while. It was so dull; the gray rock and the hay weren't exactly eye-catching.

101010101010

She never thought it would end like this. She was going to die, but she'd always thought it's be because of a fight, old age, disease, or even humans. No, she was going to die of boredom. She cursed her leg every time she wanted to get up and do something. She cursed her wing every time she was greeted by the pale blue, light or dark gray, or black as pitch sky. There were only five things Whisper truly loved: story-telling, stories, racing, her parents, and flying. What could possibly be better than feeling of wind beneath your wings, the whooshing sound in your ears, the adrenaline rush of a dive or a freefall, or floaty feeling you got when you glide and drift through the clouds?

"Breakfast," the red-haired, scrawny, male called Hiccup said heaving a few pounds of fish in front of her. He knew not to pet her or try to, for she growled and snapped just about every time.

It was two weeks later when things began to change, when Whisper could limp around in her cast. She hobbled out of her shelter at a time of day where it looked like every dragon and Viking, or most them at least, had left the village. Very few dragons were there, most sleeping in little tent-like shelters or on the shelter rooftops, their movement threatening to send them sliding off, and the rest were gulping down fish and telling stories of dangerous flights and daring raids, imprisonment and their big breakouts, and some of their biggest adventures. She was almost tempted to join them.

"Move it!" she was pushed aside by a female dragon with a serious attitude problem. She'd seen this type of dragon before on Terra Muerte, but the breed had only settled in Berk a little over a year ago. They were called red devils, for the only color they came in was red and they had slender bodies similar to that of a snake only much bigger, deep green eyes that varied in shade, and black horn-like structures that grew on top of their heads. They were very beautiful but also very vain.

**Whisper's POV**

I couldn't let it go, not like that, but what could I, in my condition, do? I didn't like red devils. When I was a hatchling, I was cute, but red devils are just born beautiful and always remain beautiful. I was lucky to turn out not ugly, I mean, I'm okay I guess. Male dragons are almost never ugly, but it's always the physical _abilities_ I look at, not that I'm interested in males. I skipped that phase, no, now what am I? Nineteen? Not likely I'd hit that phase now that my teen years were nearly gone. Mating or being bonded, to me, were like limits or restrictions. Mating meant hatchlings which meant no doing what I wanted, and bondings, when in the position of the female, meant a tight leash. Males very rarely let females do as they please. Sonto says I'll never bond, but is that such a bad thing? To me? Absolutely not.

The flapping of wings alerted me to the return of the missing dragons. I finally didn't feel so alone. Sure I could hear the voices, and flutter of wings, and the occasional purr or growl, but my only visitor was my brother who only stayed with me for minutes at a time to bring me fish or check up on me.

"How are you?" that black dragon I met the day I crash landed on this island asked me, landing right in front of me.

"Fine." Usually my answers had more tacked on to them, but what more could I say to this dragon I barely knew?

"Since you're feeling better, can I ask you something?"

"I guess so."

"What are you doing here?" the question caught me only slightly by surprise. I knew my eyes were gleaming. Sonto always said they did before a story.

"My name is Whisper, and I hail from the island of Terra Muerte. For reasons I won't mention, I decided to leave in search of a new home. I remember leaving late in the afternoon before a storm hit. Water pelted my scales like tiny rocks, the wind whipped at me and tossed me around, bending my wings at odd angles. I had to carry my weak brother, and I was sure it was the end for us. I looked below me but saw nothing. The water looked black and the lightning blinded me and the moon was dark. When the lightning flashed the sea became visible and I'd see the waves crash into each other in an endless war dance. Jagged rocks jutted from the ocean's mouth and the roar of thunder ripped across the vast space of sky in a near deafening crash. As soon as I spotted land, I flew faster, and dropped my brother on the beach just as I was giving out. Then I fell through the trees (literally) and onto the ground where I first discovered I was rendered immobile and thought I was going to die, but I was nearly overwhelmed at the thought of not being able to be there when my brother needed me." He seemed a little taken in by my story and I noticed a few other dragons including my brother had encircled me to listen.

"Any questions?"

"If you don't mind, you said you were from an island called Terra Muerte. What's it like?"

"Terra Muerte is a large island, home to many breeds of dragons. I've lived there all my life until now and this is my… first… time getting close to humans. On that island live hundreds of deadly nadders, red devils, gronckles, terrible terrors, monstrous nightmares, hideous zipplebacks, godsends, timberjacks, thunderdrums, mites, whispering deaths, scrills, and so many other breeds I'd take all day trying to name them all. The forest was different too. The trees here, the leaves are like twigs, really thin, but in my homeland the leaves are wide in several different shapes ranging in sizes from the size of my paw to the wing span of a monstrous nightmare. The strong-legged dragons usually live in burrows and underground caves, but strong-winged dragons live in caves in the mountains high above the clouds or in nests in the canopy of the trees. It rains only one month out of the entire month. Dragons that live underground have to move the hills or the canopy in the trees and out of the valley or be flushed from their homes and drowned. There's not much else."

"What are you?" Scratch asked.

"I am a godsend. We get our names because of our flying techniques and our scales. The sunlight reflects off our scales and we attract our prey who merely mistake us for blurs of light. Once close enough we swoop down and snatch up our prey. These things," I gestured to the antennae on my head, they were stiff at the base and lifted and drooped according to my mood like the ears of most animals but the rest hung limply, roughly 14 inches long, "Are my antennae. They flutter in the air and alert me to the pattern of the wind and I adjust my wings accordingly. This results in a noiseless flight." A snort was heard, and I turned to see the red devil from earlier. The few dragons who'd gathered round had become a crowd.

"I'd like to see that."

"Give me a chance to heal first, and I'll show you what _real_ flying looks like," I wasn't backing down this time.

"Nell, don't start," the black dragon spoke up, "It's getting late. We should all head to bed." A murmur of agreement fell over the crowd as they dispersed, going their separate ways to their perch or room. I turned to the black dragon.

"If you don't mind may I ask who and what are you?"

"There's nothing like me on your island?"

"No, but if it makes you feel better, I've been thinking about you wondering what you were." He chuckled at this.

"I'm a nightfury, said to be the offspring of lightning and death itself. The name's Toothless.'

"Toothless?"

"Retractable teeth." I'd seen plenty a dragon with retractable teeth.

"Of. Well, good night, Toothless."

"Good night."

And that's how my greatest adventure started.


	3. Chapter 3

Later that evening, Sonto decided to spend the night with me.

"Why'd you lie?"

"Those stories are true! You were there for all of them!"

"I meant about this being you first close encounter with humans. Should I remind you about Maricela and how she was your best friend. She fed you, befriended you, rode you, and loved you."

"Then her kind attacked ours and she _helped_." I'd never felt so betrayed and heartbroken as I did then. "She never loved me." I'd never felt so stupid and foolish. "But she was everything to me," I muttered, "How could I still be so foolish to miss her?" Nearly eight years ago.

"Because I know that even if she turned on us, a part of her will always love and miss you too. You can't let go of 12 years of friendship." I'd always tried to move on, but every time I thought of my mother….

"I'll never move on from it," I growled, my heart breaking all over again for my friend and my mother.

101010101010

It was the next day when I met another person who changed my life.

"Hi! My name is Bennta." I looked towards the door of my room and looked at a young girl who was no older than Maricela was when I had lost her and I was twelve almost thirteen. I understood, or at least got the gist, of what she was saying. She pulled out a trout from behind her back and approached me, one hand extended as if to pet me. Despite how old she looked she was definitely the runt of her age group. Her brown eyes sparkled with wisdom beyond her years, much like my brother's, and her face glowed with curiosity, reminiscent of my own. She slowly held the fish out for me to take, and I quickly snatched it from her so as not to give her time to pet me, but as I was swallowing she quickly started scratching behind my ear. I could so maybe this wasn't so bad. I could tolerate a human so long as no bond formed, and that's when I realized I was purring. That's when I pulled away as if I'd lost interest in her. She looked disappointed that she didn't get to pet me longer, but was then giddy again that she'd been able to pet me in the first place. She came by again the next day, this time with a fish, two bowls of water, and a bucket of red stuff. I swallowed the cod, drank some water, and watched curiously as she spread her hand in the red stuff.

"Watch this," she instructed. Maricela had said this when she wanted me to look at something. I watched intently as she put her hand on the wall, pressed it there, and took it off, leaving a print behind. I'd never seen anything like this. I stared at the wall and sniffed it cautiously.

"Want to try?" She pushed the red liquid towards me. I slowly dipped my paw into it and pressed it against the wall and smiled to myself after seeing my handiwork. Bennta giggled before scribbling lines under her hand print. I couldn't read her language, but I assumed it was her name.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said after washing my paw and her hand off with left over water. Then she left. I liked the red. It added color to the otherwise gray room.

Once I was sure my brain had gone numb from lying in a pile of hay, I, once again, hobbled out into the open. This time, not even the dragons who'd been spinning tales were here. Now what, now that I know there's no one to talk to? Sonto was probably out hunting or exploring. I looked beyond the farthest shelter, curious as to what lay behind it. I found houses and a dock and a gravelly beach but not much else. Nothing was dragon sized, so I assumed this was where the humans resided. Where was everyone, no dragons, no humans? This was boring. I wanted to explore, but it's been about two and a half weeks so my leg, I'd say, was roughly another two and a half weeks from being fully recovered.

I spotted a fire pit and ignited it, the blue-white flame slowly turning a radiant orange and gold. I curled up next to it letting the warmth dance across my scales, and I purred in slight contentment.

"What are you doing here?" The red haired boy I'd seen my day on this land asked. I glanced at him and tilted my head. His face was darkened with soot and glistening with sweat. His muscles visibly flexed and relaxed beneath his shirt as he moved, so it was obvious he did a lot of hard work and heavy lifting and much of it was associated with fire. He wiped the back of his hand across his forehead, leaving a pale streak across his forehead and a black streak on his hand. He wiped both his hands on his leather apron before sitting beside me and gazing into the fire. I rested my head on my forepaws, not minding his company, my eyes drooping slightly. The boy began to scratch behind my ear and I purred, enjoying the attention, and as he rubbed soothing circles on the crown of my head just between my antennae I drifted off to sleep, dreaming of my mother… and of Maricela.

_~Mother and Maricela~_

_I'd had this dream many a time before, only to wake up in a dream. I was merely one month old and already flying and expecting to be an older sister. I lived in the canopy of the forest trees where my brother first taught me to glide while turning, yet I often enjoyed hunting on the ground, a useful skill when unable to fly. Now I wake up in a new dream, older but still a child, eight years old._

_ Walking through the forest, sniffing at the ground, I followed the strange prints left in the dampened earth left by a creature I'd never seen before. The wet season had just gone, life anew had sprung, and it was easy to be lost and for anything to easily be hunted. I was not to be out but I was, and that's when I saw my first human. She assessed me with frightened, dark brown eyes. I sniffed her curiously and she giggled, scratching me behind the ear. With my ears I heard it, but hers weren't as highly sensitive. So with one last glance I left, for my mother was calling me._

_ I fluttered my tiny wings and floated up to the nest and nestled next to the eggs, pressing my ear to one of the eggs to listen to the tiny heartbeat inside. My unborn siblings. I snuggled closer to my mother and Sonto. Mom licked the top of my head affectionately while I drifted off to a dreamless sleep._

_~Mother and Maricela~_

10101010101010

I awoke to the sound of guffawing men, the smell of fish and lamb, and the feel of the crackling fire I fell asleep next to warming my scales.

"She awakens!" One of the men next to me boomed. Across from me was Toothless lying next to the red-haired boy. I stood and stretched, listening to my bones pop into place.

"Here ya go," said one of the men, tossing a still raw fish at me. I caught it and swallowed it, licking my lips. The sky was dark and dotted with stars. When was the last time I really looked at them and admired them? The last day that Maricela and I could be considered friends I suppose.

Toothless eyed me warily. True, he knew I held some grudge against humans, and true, I wasn't on my best behavior when we met, but I can behave but for now, I was comparing and contrasting our eyes. I looked at the edges of the green and watched as they faded to a far lighter shade in the middle. My eyes were a far darker green around the edges but the changed, morphing into amber then gold. Toothless stared right back at me.

"Something you like, eh, Toothless?" A large dark-haired man boomed while his friends exploded with laughter that carried across the village.

"What are doing out here?" Bennta rushed towards me and began petting me while I purred, or at least pretended to, but her mom was calling and she left.

The hours ticked by and the men continued chattering, but I was tired. I hefted myself off the ground and hobbled back to the "dragon section" of the village, Toothless trailing slightly behind me.

"Why exactly did you have a grudge against humans?" Toothless asked, breaking the silence that had settled around us.

"It's not human_s_ but rather huma_n_, and I don't want to talk about it." He left it at that, and we went our separate ways.

I settled into the pile of hay, staring at the prints on the wall until my eyes closed.

_~Maricela's Dream~_

_ Maricela and I were thick as thieves. We lay by a small lagoon not too far from where her kind were settling. I did not know if she would be staying, for others had tried to settle here but never stayed. I had certainly hoped she could stay._

_ 'You and I are going to be best friends forever, Maricela. Even if you leave,' I would think whenever I rested my head and forepaws in her lap. I began to get the gist of what she said in the two months she'd been on Terra Muerte, the longest time of habitation for any of her kind according to the unnecessarily worried more elderly dragons on the island, my mom included. Maricela would tell me about her day while absently stroking my head._

_ "One day," she began, "I'm going to be super rich and buy a castle. I'm going to marry a prince charming and you're going to be the baby. Sound good, Angel?"_

_ 'I think it'd be better if it were just you and me. A male will slow us down and so will mating and hatchlings. We don't need that,' I thought, my obstinate attitude toward a shared lifetime showing early at my young age._

_ "Whatever my dream is, you'll be in it, my precious Angel."_

_~Maricela's Dream~_

Bennta came in at the usual time with a basket full of fish. She began to rub small circles in the side of my neck as I ate.

"What am I going to name you? I've been thinking about names for a long time. How about Angel?" I growled.

'No! I'll never be called _that_ again!' I thought viciously.

"Yeah, you're right, too sugar sweet. What about Bennta II?" I gave her a skeptical look. "Fine, fine. How about wisp? Because of these wispy things?" She pointed to my antennae. Wisp? I could live with that. "I like that. Wisp…. I'll see you tomorrow, Wisp!" And with that she picked up the empty basket and left. I stared out the window, looking at azure sky, daydreaming, remembering…

_~First Flight~_

_ "Alright. Are you ready for this?" Maricela asked. I nodded vigorously. I barely heard her heart pounding with nervousness over my own which was pounding with excitement. I jumped and she screamed and we flew. Her scream turned to laughter, my joy became euphoria, and our friendship reached its peak. We swerved through the tree trunks, freefell alongside waterfalls, and glided along the surface of the clouds. We landed at night at our lagoon._

_ 'Best friends forever,' I thought._

_ "Mom! Mom!" I couldn't find her. She wasn't in the nest, and I was having trouble finding her scent in the air. It was the sound of her roar that led me to her. My brother was at my side instantly, rushing to find out the issue as I was._

_ It wasn't just my mom. She was just part of it. It was a battlefield with the blood and corpses of both human and dragon lying on the ground, staining it red. Scattered limbs, bloodied scales and weapons, severed claws, and heads littered the area the humans had wanted to call their own, and my mom was in the middle of it all alongside other dragons fighting for the land we knew was rightfully ours. I charged through it all, knocking over the man who was trying to kill my mother, and my mother finished him. I turned and saw Maricela, and relief rushed through me. But then she charged, sword in hand, and cut my shoulder. More than hurt, I was confused. What had I done? While I stood in shock, my mother stood up to defend me._

_ "Run, Whisper, run! Run away!" My mother urged me. My brother grabbed me by the nape of my neck and flew me to a high tree branch, but my eyes were glued to the scene before me. Fires began to run wild, giving us dragons the advantage over the blinded and suffocating humans. Maricela swung a sword around blindly, slashing my mother across her throat. A pain-filled screech erupted in my ears and I realized the screech was my own. Why, Maricela? What did I do wrong?_

_~First Flight~_


	4. Chapter 4

"Morning, Whisper," Sonto walked in, snapping me back to reality, "Happy Birthday."

"My leg and my wing are broken, I have no idea when I'm getting this stupid cast off, and I can't fly. I'm sorry, but I missed the happy part of this day."

"Lighten up."

"So why are you here?"

"I'm putting my foot down, Whisper. You're twenty and haven't bonded to a dragon, let alone mated. Mom was fifteen when she had me."

"I don't want a mate. I don't want to _bond_."

"But why?"

"Let me ask you this. Have – _had_ you ever noticed how mom seemed just as happy when dad died?"

"Yeah, but that was because she had us. We were her greatest joy."

"But for a while I would hear her crying at night. She would be in so much pain…. I don't want to end up like that."

"There's something else you're not telling me. What is it?"

"Freedom."

"What about it?"

"I'll lose it if I mate. Freedom, I mean."

"You just need to find the right dragon."

"Why should I when I don't intend to mate with anyone."

"I know I've said that you'll never bond with anyone, but now you will." I snorted at this.

"Whisper, let's make a deal."

"I'm listening."

"I'll find 10 males for you, and you have to evaluate each one after spending a day with them. Tell me what you like _and_ dislike about the first nine and why and I promise you that you'll have a real keeper on the tenth. You'll fall for him.

"Since this plan is doomed to fail, it's a deal."

**Sonto's POV**

I already knew what I had to do. I knew it would hurt her to tell her it would be time to put my plan into action when that cast on her leg and brace on her wing came off, but it had to be done. I knew my sister inside and out, and all I really had to do was pair her up with nine dragons who were her total opposite and have her befriend the tenth. I set the time for finding her a mate to start once she was up and running again. I was sure I knew which dragon she needed, but I wanted to make further observations.

**Whisper's POV**

I had to admit what I already knew was true. I was forming a friendship with Bennta. She would feed me, pet me, clean me, and she even told me stories. She would tell me about where she and the other humans and dragons disappeared off to most of the day. Apparently, they're expanding the village for new settlers and trade.

I also learned more about her. I was right when I said she was a runt. She's actually older than Maricela was when I lost her. Bennta is actually seventeen. I didn't know we were so close in age. That's if you don't count that mature for her species is 18 while mine is 15.

She told me all about the humans I usually see with Toothless, Stormfly, Meatlug, Barf and Belch, and Hookfang. She said their names were Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Snotlout. And get this, humans here actually ride dragons, and the dragons actually enjoy it.

Just as Toothless asked me of my background story, I asked for his. Questions like: where was he from, what did he like most about this island called Berk, what was his name before being called Toothless. He told me he was from Hell Hein's Gate, he loved obstacles for flying, and his name used to be Torukshanto. He said it was some extinct ancient language and that it meant, "Terror of Night," but he, like all other dragons, had dropped their previous name.

"Do you live up to your old name?" I couldn't resist egging him on.

"Of course I do," he said, seeing at what I was getting at. "Why?"

"I just wasn't sure you could really terrify me is all."

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."

"Fine, I'll spare you and call off the challenge."

"I can promise you that I'll figure out how to scare you. I'll give you a whole new meaning to the word terror. Are you as good a flyer as you've said?"

"Not right now, but once I'm back in tip top condition, I can outfly you before you have time to blink."

"How about a race?"

"Tell me where and I'll do it. Starting around the docks and ending at the village square. My running against your flying."

"That hardly seems fair."

"I'll go easy on you."

"I meant flying versus running. Seems like an unfair advantage."

"I've been running for years now because I can't fly by myself. I'm the fastest thing on four legs here."

"It's just as well no riders are involved. I don't have one."

"What about Bennta? Ya'll seem pretty close. I thought, if anyone, she would've been your rider."

"I don't let humans ride me. Anymore," I mumbled the last part under my breath while looking down. "And you would've needed a rider to fly." He mulled this over a bit.

"On a day I'm not with Hiccup, we'll race."

"You're on," I was beyond pumped for this race, and Toothless chuckled at my excitement, watching energy seem to surge through me as I suddenly found it hard to stay still.

"_There_ you are," the human known as Acke said, tying a rope around my neck. I groaned. I could adjust to humans, but never in any lifetime would I ever enjoy having something tied around my neck. She led me away to the hut full of damaged and bandaged dragons. None of the dragons were the same ones I'd seen two months ago since coming to Berk and being led through this same building. I hopped up on to a table. I watched warily as she picked up a hammer and chisel and relaxed the moment she started to chip away the clay of my cast. I was bristling with anticipation. I flexed my leg and noticed a few scales missing. It must be about time for shedding season to start. No doubt some terrible terror would swipe some of my scales for their shininess. I hated shedding. I was vulnerable and visibly lost an inch of the bulk that was my body, showing my cream colored skin and it tell-tale scars that were it not for my scales would be hidden.

A tug on my wing yanked me from my thoughts. My wing felt stiff but light as air once the metal brace was off. I stretched, popping my bones into place. How was it dragons here showed humans gratitude and happiness again? Oh! Now I remember. I licked Acke from chin to hairline while she gave light noise of surprise and a giggle.

"Hi, Wisp!" Bennta greeted me outside the hut, surprised but happy to see me. I licked her too, just about happy to see everyone now. She dropped whatever she was holding as I continued to lick her face while she laughed.

"Bennta we don't have time to mess around," Hiccup and Toothless approached us. I tackled Toothless and licked him too, much to his surprise, and I repeated the process with Hiccup. There was no one else around to lick and spend all my newfound energy on, so I began to bound in circles as I had done when I was a mere hatchling after I discovered the joys of flying. Jumping and back flipping and purring. Toothless looked on in amusement while Hiccup and Bennta began to gather up their things. I flapped my wings, causing giant gusts of wind, minus the flapping sound wings normally make.

"Let's go, Toothless," Hiccup said, but Toothless had his eyes glued to me. I stretched and tried to make myself look attractive, not for Toothless but for me. It was nice to feel I had my sleek, slender, curved figure back now that the hulking weight of my cast and brace were gone. Now I felt… pretty, cute even and powerful. Yes, definitely powerful, and curious now that I could explore the island. I would see if Berk was worth staying in, though I was hesitant for another big move considering what had happened last time.

"Come on, Toothless," Hiccup tugged on his saddle and began to lead him away, Bennta in tow. Toothless tore his eyes from me to follow Hiccup, glancing back every now and then. I followed that curiosity sticking to me.

"Come on, Toothless," Hiccup tugged on his saddle and began to lead him away, Bennta in tow. Toothless tore his eyes from me to follow Hiccup, glancing back every now and then. I followed them, curiosity leading to me.

The newer parts of the village were more spaced out than the others on account of lack of population. I watched smaller dragons heat fires for welding, smithing, and bonfires and watched the larger dragons haul heavy loads of stone, metal, and wood. I never imagined ever seeing anything like this, dragons and humans working together. Dragons in Terra Muerte would keel over if they saw this. Lord knows _I_ almost did.

We walked into a building filled with the sound of clanking metal and the smell of burning coals, hot metal, soot, and sweat. Bennta pulled out bowls of that same red stuff we left paw/hand prints on my wall, but this time it wasn't just red but several colors. Several, spinning colors. The loud sound of crashing metal from shields someone had dropped temporarily dizzied me and I stumbled a bit while walking and Toothless stumbled into me making us a mound of tangled dragon limbs. Bennta laughed and Hiccup chuckled as we stumbled over ourselves, untangled from each other but tripping clumsily over our own four feet. Who were they to laugh? They only had _two_ feet to trip over and managed to do it quite often. Trip, I mean.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYY!" Oh my gosh! It had to be one of the most horrific and annoying sounds I'd ever heard. I almost fell again. I looked towards the curtained doorway and saw a small figure. She was small in height as well as in weight with long fiery, straight red hair that tumbled over her shoulders and cascaded down her back with a piece of silken cloth holding the hair out of her face. Her eyes were ice blue and she had freckles that ran from one cheek across her nose to the other cheek. She didn't seem happy – if the way she stomped over to one of the many burly me in the smithing shop with her pale pink, bottom lip jutting out and her eyes big and doe-like were any indication. Behind her walked in Nell. She seemed to be looking for something. She pranced towards Toothless, her obvious goal, puffing out her chest a little and sucking in her already curvy stomach. Vanity thy name is Nell. She flaunted a little bit, unaware of Toothless's unimpressed demeanor and my amused demeanor at his reaction. How far was she going to go to get to Toothless? Maybe now was the time for payback for her attitude the day we met. Karma thy name is Whisper, as is vengeance. I sauntered over to Toothless and into Nell's line of vision.

"Are you buying this?" I asked low enough for only him to hear and received the reaction I was hoping for. He chuckled.

"Not really," he replied.

"How long has she been after you?"

"A while," he grimaced and I laughed lightly, the sound coming out delicately. I guess I could understand Nell's determination. Toothless was quite handsome.

"You," Nell said pointedly, not hiding her disappointment to see me.

"Yes, me," I was, oddly enough, having fun. She wouldn't hide her attitude, I wouldn't hide my amusement.

"What do you want? Shouldn't you be with your brother, foreigner?"

"I've heard your species only recently appeared on this island." She wasn't that much newer than I.

"We don't need more dragons to settle here." Tension hung thickly in the air.

"Whisper?" Toothless asked, breaking my star/glare off with Nell.

"Hmm?"

"You pinned me to the ground and licked me earlier. What was that about?"

"Oh, I was happy. My leg and wing are better now. Now we can get to that race. Not that there'll be much competition."

"There might be because I decided to go easy on you."

"Me?! I could kick your butt in my sleep!" A stare/smirk off had begun, much to Nell's annoyance. I continued to look in Toothless's green eyes and noticed a tiny ring of amber around his pupils.

"Nell!" The whiny, red haired, female human called, "Let's go." Nell walked off muttering something about man stealing.


	5. Chapter 5

"Tell me a story," Toothless said one night when we were lying under the stars. All the other dragons had fallen asleep about an hour ago while Toothless and I wrestled with insomnia.

"About what?"

"Your childhood."

"Then will you tell me about yours?" He shuffled in his spot next to me in the grass. He'd rolled over to lie on his back like I was.

"Yeah, I'll tell you, but you go first." I sighed.

"You already know I'm from Terra Muerte. I hatched about two months after Sonto. My other brother or sister never hatched. With such a sickly brother they said I'd either die when I was still young or when I hit adult hood, which was five years ago as of 18 days ago. Sonto was supposed to die as well. It was odd. I was only half his size at the time, and even he was considered small for his size. I'm still small, but I'm done growing. I should be twice your size. And Sonto… he's half my size now…. Even when he was bigger than me I was always… protective. And being small, I was always… underestimated. So I took care of myself in a way. I taught myself to hunt on the ground, learning to climb up and down trees. When I was a month old I was already flying. We're born with giant but weak wings, floppy and useless until you build them up strong. I taught myself to hunt from the skies. I was always flying. Eventually the wet season was here, so space in the tree canopies was getting sparse. Males had started fighting for more space and territories. My dad had won out space at the cost of his own life. Mom was so devastated…." Toothless looked at me.

"I never knew my mom," he started, no longer meeting my gaze. I looked at him, but he showed no emotion. "My dad taught me what I needed to know and left, so I was on my own at two. I learned to never rely on anyone for anything."

"But what happened here on Berk changed your mind. You rely on Hiccup, and he doesn't let your down."

"Yeah." The night was quiet, even the insects were at rest.

"Who rode you before?"

"I told you I don't let humans ride me."

"You told me you don't let them ride you _anymore_." I looked at him and he stared back expectantly.

"Her name was Maricela. We were friends. She betray me. I haven't trusted a human since."

"Does this story include details?"

"No." Silence.

"You were really close. Weren't you?"

"She was my best friend for four years," I said as a fat human fist-sized tear rolled from my eye and, following the curve of my face, eventually fell to the ground. I heard Toothless shift beside me and knew he was looking at me. I rolled on to my stomach to rest my head on my forepaws. "Her people were looking to settle on Terra Muerte. We steered clear of them, everyone but me. No one but Maricela knew about the existence of dragons, and even then she only knew of me. The other humans went on unaware. We spent time together. She brought me treats, and I gave her my scales and took her to fly once. I don't know. I thought things were going well. I was wrong. She turned on me, she killed my mother, and she hurt my kind."

Toothless shifted onto his stomach and looked at me, I looked, and rested his forehead on mine and nuzzled lightly. I understood that, among humans, this is a sign of affection, but in all truth – for dragons – it's a way of saying, "It is okay. I understand. I'm here for you." I nuzzled back, saying, "We're in this together." I guess you could say that was where our relationship started.

101010101010

The first suitor that Sonto picked out for me was a nadder, as were the second and third. The fourth, fifth, sixth, eight, and ninth were a gronkle, a hideous zippleback, two monstrous nightmares, and a red devil respectively. I noticed a pattern of running through all the different breeds of dragon on Berk. It didn't even come as a surprise when Toothless was my final suitor. To add insult to injury, I was in heat so many dragons had been pestering me as it was and I was a little more than irritable.

"You don't have to do this. It can be one of those, 'let's not and say we did' moments," Toothless told me the morning I was to meet up with him.

"I can't. I'm a dragon of my word." He nodded his understanding. It was, without a doubt, kind of awkward. It's not every day you must try your best friend for a mate, but then again the bet was made before the pact of friendship that night we each learned of our pasts.

"What do you want to do?" I asked. He did the dragon equivalent of a shrug. There really wasn't much to do on Berk.

"We could break some rules," Toothless suggested. We only really had one rule. Hiccup and Bennta didn't like us to wander far from the village. I didn't like this rule. Why worry about two perfectly-capable-of-protecting-themselves dragons?"

"I'd like that," I said. We ran to the other side of the island, Toothless leading not just because he knew the way, but because he was extremely fast. Finally we slipped on mud and slid at least 100 feet down a steep hill into a mud bank near a cave. It was almost dark – for humans, I mean, dragons can see in the dark – except for the light glow of glow worms dangling on the stalactites. Little pools of water reflected the ceiling like mirrors and a beautiful whistle sound echoed through the cave every time the wind blew. It was the kind of setting you put two lovers in. I looked at Toothless, and… he looked different. Not how he was looking at me, but that was different too. I couldn't help but see him as an eligible male dragon while I was a female looking for my mate – which is more or less the case. He looked at me with sheer want. His ears lay flat and his body was rigid with restraint only a matured, young, male dragon could have. I sat on my haunches, hoping to hide my pheromones to make it easier on him. We may have been best friends with no love for each other that extended any further than a friendship, but Toothless was still a young, hormonal male. Our eyes stayed connected for what felt like the longest time, but I blinked and we snapped out of it.

Later that day, in my room I questioned the relationship I had with Toothless. At last, I reached the conclusion that I may have a crush on him, but I couldn't be sure. He was, after all, my first crush. I don't know. Maybe I should've seen it coming, for he _was_ the only male dragon aside from my brother with whom I've managed to get along – considering he was about the only unrelated male who, upon meeting, didn't ask if he could mount me or try without asking. Toothless was already more of a gentle-dragon, and I couldn't say he wasn't exactly attractive. He was very handsome.

He also knew more about my past than any dragon except Sonto. I'd never felt comfortable enough to tell anyone else about my past relationship with humans and how that affected my relationship with Bennta now. As I mulled all this over, Sonto walked in. Something about his body language said he expected a different response to Toothless than the way I responded to the other nine dragons I had tried for mates.

"So how'd it go?" Sonto asked, expectantly, almost hopefully.

"It was…," What the best word to describe it? "Nice." He nodded.

"Good," he said and walked out, a pleased expression on his face. I wasn't lying. I genuinely could say I had a good time. We recounted primeravi – first flight.

~_Primeravi~_

_Toothless and I returned to the beach near the village sometime around sunset to bathe in the sea and wash the mud from our scales. My scales glittered a golden, pearly color and reflected on the water sending glow around me. I began to clean around me, my saliva breaking down the mud caked into the grooves of my scales, while Toothless did the same. A while later we were bathed in moonlight. We sat on the beach cleaning each other. Well, I was done, but I was cleaning his back in the spots he couldn't reach. Playfully, I flicked my tongue under his chin. Like all dragons, it was his weak spot. He collapsed in a heap, and I laughed a little before lying down next to him. He rolled his eyes but had a contented look on his face. He blanketed one of his large wings over me, and I sighed happily, enjoying the warmth of another body and the beauty of the night._

"_Toothless," I began, "What was primeravi like for you?"_

"_My first flight?" He paused, mulling his answer over. "Exhilarating. I never wanted to return to land once I got the hang of it. I was scared at first, falling head first off a cliff face. But when I just…"_

"_Let go?" I filled in. He nodded. "I know what you mean. Nothing is more terrifying than the feeling of vulnerability during that first freefall or the thought that you can't do it until you really start to feel the rush that says, 'I can do this,'" I recounted._

_It was quiet for a moment after that. I'm not sure why but we just looked at each other. It wasn't awkward. It wasn't a stare down. It was a connection, and somehow I knew that he knew as well as I did that both of us would be doing this again."_


End file.
